New year, great expectations
Before Brand van ’t Hof, Technical Director at AWL-Techniek, talks about 2012, it is good to know where AWL is coming from.
“2011 was a great year. We exceeded expectations across the board. The way our company was able to unburden our customers was amazing. We have a great and dedicated team of highly-skilled employees who take pride in the things we do here”.
As 2011 proved to be a record year, with the highest turnover, the biggest single project and the highest number of integrated robots and laser optics, it almost seems impossible to top that achievement in 2012. However, AWL is confident that further growth is still in reach. At the moment the company is finalizing construction of a new building on the premises, which will increase office and factory floor space by 60%, ensuring that growth of both people and projects can be managed.
As the automotive industry continues to flourish, AWL remains focused on this market. “Our customers (Tier 1) and the OEMs have big plans. A lot of them have expressed positive investment signals for the coming years. This underlines our ideas and paves the way for great success” according to Van ‘t Hof.
In 2012 AWL will continue to push the laser welding technology besides arc- and spot welding. As one of the leading companies involved with laser welding in the seating market, AWL wants to put this knowledge and experience to good use in other automotive segments, such as Body and Interior (CCB).
Laser will also be the focus for China, where AWL will open a small company in 2012, to support their existing customers, and where welding cells and fixtures can be built in the future. Expectation is that this subsidiary will grow in the coming years to be five times larger than the one in the Czech Republic, even though activities there will be expanding and capacity will be doubled in one or two years.
AWL will further increase the standardization of their machines to ensure that machines and processes are stable and reliable. In addition, the controls and the cell will be further developed to keep in line with customer demand. For 2012 new developments in the field of fixture building can be expected, such as nest intelligence and rapid fixture exchange. All in order to guarantee that AWL continues to keep their customers ahead in automated welding.
“I’m confident that this will be another great year. It is important that we take the time to enjoy it all, even when things are hectic and busy. With an enthusiastic staff, great partners, exciting projects and interesting customers, we are able to create and build fantastic welding machines”, concludes Van ‘t Hof.